You have finally gotten yourself to the gym. You made good on
your resolution to workout. So now you want to make the best of it. What do you
do?
There are two keys to getting the most from your workouts. If you omit either
one of them you might not get the results you expect. But if you do them both,
you will have maximum results with minimum effort. And that is what we all want.
First, when you come to the gym, or when you do any workout, you need to know
what it is that you intend to accomplish and how you are going to go about it.
In other words, you have to have a plan. It doesn’t have to be a complicated
plan, but you do need to know where you are going and how you plan on getting
there.
For example, if you are trying to lose weight, it is vital to know where you are
now. What do you weigh? What is your body fat percentage? How much muscle do you
have?
It is the muscle that burns up the calories while you are at the gym exercising.
And it is also the muscle that burns up calories throughout the day, while you
are at work, at home resting and even while you are sleeping. It is the muscle
that does this.
So you need to know how much muscle you have now, and you need to keep track of
how much more you are developing, to see if you are making progress.
You can do this with a few simple tools. A bathroom scale or the scale at the
gym will tell you how much you weigh. You can figure out the fat percentage with
a simple, inexpensive caliper.
The Accu-Measure Fitness 2888body fat caliper is an inexpensive tool that has
been proven to be very accurate; it is available for about $20.00. It will tell
you what your body fat percentage is.
Just subtract the fat mass from your body weight, and that is your lean mass. As
long as the lean mass is going up while the fat mass is going down, you are
doing well, gaining muscle and getting into better shape.
Second, you need to know what you are doing each workout. If you are walking,
you should keep track of how far you walk and how long it takes you. That way
you can tell if you are doing better as time goes on. If you are not improving
your times or your distance you might not be making the progress you should.
If you are using weights to gain muscle and slim down (and you should if at all
possible, because weight training is one of the best ways to lose weight, no
matter who you are, how old you are, how out of shape you are, or what you
weigh) then you need to know what workout you are going to do each time you go
to the gym.
Your program should be written out beforehand, and include the exercises and the
number of repetitions that you are going to do. Then all you have to do is keep
a log book (a simple spiral notebook works well) and make a quick note as you do
each set of exercises.
It only takes a second you write down the name of the exercise, the number of
repetitions, and the weight you are using on each set. This is a vital step that
many people leave out. But when you do this, you are recording your progress
each workout, and you will know from week to week whether you are improving or
not. You can flip the page and see how you did last week, and challenge yourself
to do at least one more.
If you do these two things, have a long term plan in mind and keep records of
your progress, you can have maximum workout benefit from minimum effort. And you really
can lose that extra weight and at last have the body that you have always
wanted.
RESOURCE BOX: Dan Curtis, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the
University of South Florida. He is the author of Dr. Dan’s Super Weight Loss
Plan.
Sign up for his free newsletter: Dr. Dan’s Super Weight Loss Tips, Tricks and
Secrets. Click here– http://www.superweightlossplan.com/newsletter/